A processing apparatus, which is configured to carry out a film deposition process to a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer in the course of manufacturing a semiconductor device, includes a substrate table for placing thereon the substrate in a chamber. The substrate is processed while the substrate is supported by the substrate table. In order to heat the substrate depending on process conditions, the substrate table incorporates a heater. For example, when a film deposition process by a plasma CVD method is carried out, a temperature of the substrate table is heated by the heater to about 600° C. to 700° C. (for example, JP2008-1923A).
In the film deposition apparatus, when an inside of the chamber is cleaned, or the chamber is opened to an atmosphere for maintenance, it is necessary to lower the temperature of the substrate table from the process temperature to about a room temperature. In order not to damage the substrate table by a sudden temperature change, the temperature of the substrate table is gradually lowered for several hours by an indirect method, i.e., a gas cooling method that introduces a cooling gas into the chamber. However, since it takes a long time for the gas cooling method to lower the temperature, a downtime of the apparatus increases, which invites decrease in a working rate.